Oracle Bones: A Journey through Time in China

by Peter Hessler

Overview

A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler explores the human side of China's transformation, viewing modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world through the lives of a handful of ordinary people. In a narrative that gracefully moves between the ancient and the present, the East and the West, Hessler captures the soul of a country that is undergoing a momentous change before our eyes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060826598
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/08/2007
Series:	P.S. Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	169,179
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.19(d)

About the Author

Peter Hessler is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he served as the Beijing correspondent from 2000 to 2007, and is also a contributing writer for National Geographic. He is the author of River Town, which won the Kiriyama Prize; Oracle Bones, which was a finalist for the National Book Award; and, most recently, Country Driving. He won the 2008 National Magazine Award for excellence in reporting, and he was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2011. He lives in Cairo.

Hometown:

Beijing, China

Date of Birth:

June 14, 1968

Place of Birth:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Education:

Princeton University, Creative Writing and English, 1992; Oxford University, English Language and Literature, 1994

What People are Saying About This

Nigel Richardson

“An extraordinary, genre-defying book. . . . Beautifully constructed. . . . Hessler’s reportage is vivid.”

Editorial Reviews

A remarkable travelogue documenting aspects of a country still little understood.” — Kirkus (starred review)

“Everyone in the Western world should read this book.” — Publishers Weekly, (starred review)

“Hessler has written a fascinating and frequently moving account of life in modern China.” — Booklist

“A brilliant observer with a novelist’s ear for character and dialogue, Hessler is both fascinating and funny.” — Entertainment Weekly

“Wonderful. . . . Intimate. . . . The book reads like a really good novel.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Insightful. . . . Hessler is a wry and witty writer who manages to bring humor even to tense situations.” — Christian Science Monitor

“Engaging. . . . Acutely observed, moving, frequently funny and a perspicacious X-ray of China’s zeitgeist.” — South China Morning Post

“An extraordinary, genre-defying book. . . . Beautifully constructed. . . . Hessler’s reportage is vivid.” — Nigel Richardson, The Daily Telegraph

From the Publisher

Insightful. . . . Hessler is a wry and witty writer who manages to bring humor even to tense situations.

Christian Science Monitor

An extraordinary, genre-defying book. . . . Beautifully constructed. . . . Hessler’s reportage is vivid.

Nigel Richardson

A brilliant observer with a novelist’s ear for character and dialogue, Hessler is both fascinating and funny.

Entertainment Weekly

Wonderful. . . . Intimate. . . . The book reads like a really good novel.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Engaging. . . . Acutely observed, moving, frequently funny and a perspicacious X-ray of China’s zeitgeist.

South China Morning Post

Hessler has written a fascinating and frequently moving account of life in modern China.

Booklist

Hessler has written a fascinating and frequently moving account of life in modern China.

Booklist